8/25/2009

Our MP expenses scandal was ridiculous, but this may be worse, much worse. In his 10-year reign on top, Richie Rich aka former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba allegedly spent around US$40 million of the people's money for his flash suits and gifts for the wifey... I feel ickly enough thinking about our members of UK parliament enjoying second homes and maid service on taxpayer's buck, but it cushions the blow, ever so slightly, to know I have a warm home, nice clean water to wash the dirt off my shoulder, no diseases, and a job that provides me with more than £1 a day; unlike many of the Zambian citizens. Get my point? Stealing from the poor to give to the rich is not the Robin Hood way. Here's my Ctrl.Alt.Shift report on the matter:

Young Blood: Chiluba One, Zambia NilOur MP expenses debacle was one thing but this is something else. Imagine Gordon Brown or one of his cronies reportedly gambling away the taxpayer's money, spending health care cash on a new golf club, a shiny new car, or perhaps some diamonds for their pampered wives. Essentially, that is the outrageous situation the people of Zambia face – but there's only one problem – there's not enough substantial evidence (apparently) to bring the corporate culprits down.

The defendant in question is former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba. The man is like Scarface; with humble beginnings as a young bus conductor, before leaping up the ranks as a trade unionist, and finally running the country (for 10 years no less), fully pimped out with designer suits, silk pyjamas and over 100 pairs of squeaky altered shoes (allegedly fitted with two inch heels to raise his 5ft stature). Credit to his rags to riches biography, as he went from driving to being driven - from boutique to boutique. Once he managed to spend a whopping $500,000 on a single visit to a boutique in Geneva.

However, you might ask, how could the little ex-president roll red-carpet style whilst his countrymen struggled on less than $1 a day? The answer to this question was hunted down by the lawyer who started this court room drama some six years ago in 2003, two years after Chiluba stepped down. This maverick lawyer – who was acting on behalf of sued Zambian newspaper, the Post, who were pressed for libel charges after calling Chiluba a thief – somehow gained access to the records of the Zambian intelligence service's bank account in London. These revealed evidence of payments to Chiluba's children, that lovely Geneva boutique and several Zambian officials. Come back to this year, and last week's acquittal by a Lusaka Court, saw Chiluba cleared of stealing $500,000 (£300,000) from the Zambian people. Everything in-between is a corporate blur of corruption...

8/17/2009

Want a typical rags to riches story? Below, read up on self-made millionaire Peter Bull, the caravan site owner who took part in Channel 4's programme 'How The Other Half Lives'; which saw the mansion loving money-shakers try to shift the balance for council flat debt-bound families in the UK. 1 in 3 children in the UK apparently live in poverty - it's still nowhere near the devastating statistics from DRCongo to Zambia - but it's no bad thing to see the wealthy coming back to their humble beginnings to lend a helping hand:

Feature: How To Become A Self-Made MillionaireDid you know that around half the young people living in inner city London live below the poverty line? I had no idea – but that's the stats being provided by new Channel 4 series 'How The Other Half Live'.

What exactly defines the 'underprivileged' is a grey matter; in my opinion it can be anyone from those living by the pay cheque, on the dole, or on the streets - and everything in-between. But what this project sets out to do, is bridge the gap between the hustlers and the flossers. This is not so much Wife Swap becomes Class Swap as each episode a wealthy family actively tries to help and inspire another fam struggling to pay the bills. The whole process outlines how we do, how we can, and how we should respond to the poverty on our doorsteps.

Self-made multi-millionaire Peter Bull knows both sides of the park, having grown up on a London council estate, before years of "bloody hard work" made him one the UK's richest caravan park owners. Last week, we saw him and his family assist father Jimmy, mother Toni, and their three children – a family battling debt and facing eviction from their gardenless council flat in north London. With his humble beginnings, Peter is proud his own two daughters, aged eight and 11, can now live in the luxury of a 25-room Kent mansion with 16 acres to run around on...

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Bio

I am a journalist and digital media/content editor/manager based in London, the former digital content editor of Ctrl.Alt.Shift (Christian Aid's youth political and social issue magazine), former senior content and community manager for Livity (working specifically on Spinebreakers, somewhereto_ and Live Mag UK) - currently working as digital media manager at Excellent Development (a charity supporting communities in countries such as Kenya, India, Mozambique and Zimbabwe to transform their lives with sand dams). In the past I have freelanced for the likes of RWD, the Guardian, The Independent, MTV Staying Alive (and others). I have also been a part-time mentor for young writers at Interact Magazine, an advisor in the ‘Platforma Arts and Refugees Network’ London hub, a mentor for Channel 4's Battlefront campaigners, and one of the directors of the Youth-led Media Network (now the Youth Media Agency). In 2011, I was a London360 blogger for Media Trust's Community Channel, represented as a social reporter at the 2011 London Youth Policy Symposium, and was on the drafting committee representing as a delegate at the UNAIDS Youth Summit On HIV in Mali. On my travels, I have provided global and social news reports from the DRCongo to Vancouver. Currently I am also a trustee for the Youth Media Agency, and adviser for SetOff Magazine.